Seth Godin's Linchpin

Being a Seth Godin fan boy in marketing circles is like announcing that Frank Lloyd Wright was a genius in a room full of architects -- no one will disagree with you, but you're not going to win any awards for originality either.

I am an ardent fan of Seth's and have written about him before on this blog. While it's hard to quantify exactly what makes him so powerful, he helps articulate it brilliantly in his latest offering, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable.

Godin believes the days of the entitled, overpriced bureaucrat are over. In the twentieth century, many careers were built around skills that can now be done by machines or outsourced for a fraction of the price. Only by passionately producing and "shipping" your unique "art" can you become an indispensable linchpin within an organization or in your own business.

The road to linchpinhood is no walk in the park. First one has to confront a lifetime of conditioning that encouraged us to fit in, or as Godin believes, become replaceable cogs in the system. We must then confront the "lizard brain" -- our own inner voice pleading with us to accept the happy mediocrity of the status quo.

Personally, I found the chapter on "shipping" the most powerful part of the book. Godin points out that Pablo Picasso produced over a thousand paintings, but most of us can only remember three of them. He also reminds us that he himself has written over a hundred books, most of which didn't sell very well, but the process of doing so made his work infinitely more readable. The lesson here is that creativity is an iterative process. Godin truly believes that sheer output, regardless of the ratio of crap to critical, equals progress -- one can't develop and become more valuable if one is standing still. In other words, if you are going to fail, fail forward; fail fast.

This has given me a newfound respect for musicians like David Bowie, bands like Blur and authors like William F. Buckley Jnr. I used to feel that the mountains of crap they produced for every piece of good stuff was revealing -- that a body of work more mediocre than masterpiece was something to be embarrassed by. But now I can see that for most everybody, this dedication to shipping forms the crucible of their creativity. One of my Dad's favorite quotes to us as kids was Thomas Edison's, "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." This much is becoming clearer by the day.

While Godin is known for his visionary but commonsensical thoughts on marketing, Linchpin is first and foremost a self-help book, but a finer one you will not find. The book is incredibly enlightening, thoroughly readable, and as Forrester analyst and author of Groundswell, Josh Bernoff writes, "You should buy a copy. Unless, of course, you're enjoying that rut you're in."

How To Be Creative

A must-see video on how to be creative, inspired by creativity's enfant terrible Hugh MacLeod.

For more commonsense, straightforward tips from Hugh, read his blog Gaping Void, or grab a copy of his book: Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity.

What Motivates Us?

Daniel Pink is a seriously sharp cat. His 2005 book, A Whole New Mind is the definitive work on the shift from the knowledge-based, left-brain, twentieth century economy to the creativity driven, right-brain dominated economy of the future.

His new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, is due out in January and I’ll be sure to snag a copy. In the meantime, this TED talk gives us a sneak preview of what we can expect.

Pink believes that three attributes - autonomy, mastery and purpose, help foster our intrinsic motivation far better than the promise of financial reward. In fact, Pink highlights how monetary incentives can actually stunt performance and creativity. In this talk he gives several examples of how employees become more effective when they believe their work carries more meaning and gives them a sense of accomplishment. In most cases, this results in tangible increases in productivity, innovation and profitability across the board.

Definitely worth a look.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Brilliant speech by world renowned creativity guru Sir Ken Robinson.

Discussing the idea of "academic inflation" (the concept of university degrees becoming less valuable), he believes that only by nurturing a child's unique talents can they be fully engaged and successful in the work they do. Robinson believes education is diverse, dynamic and distinct - three attributes that most school systems do not adequately accommodate.

Do yourself a favor, check it out when you get a spare 20 minutes.